Kyle Ferrin, illustrator of Root and Vast, joined me to talk about his process for creating art for board games. He details how he got into board game art and how he uses art in other areas of his life. We also discuss some of his influences.

Adam Rebotarro, co-creator and artist for Sentinels of the Multiverse, joined me to talk about his growth as an artist. We focused on how he reacted to unwanted criticism and how he turned that into a drive to become a better artist. We also discuss some of our complaints about the modern comic industry.

Nikki Valens, designer of Eldritch Horror, Mansions of Madness 2nd Ed., and Legacy of Dragonholt joined me to talk about updating old editions and infusing story into games. We even discuss some games we both enjoy that have nothing to do with what she designed.

Ken Spencer, creator of Rocket Age, joined the show to discuss his tabletop role playing game Rocket Age. This game is set in a 1938 that never was full of spaceships and aliens and exciting action. The game uses the vortex system to increase the cinematic feel of the game. We discussed the virtues of the vortex system as well as the amount of time that Ken put into building the world that Rocket Age inhabits.

Erica Bouyouris, designer of Roar!, joined me to talk about her game Roar, her introduction to the hobby game world, and her experiences within that world. This conversation went all over the place, and Erica was a fount of knowledge and advice. I enjoyed having her on the show.

Randy Hoyt and John Shulters of Fox Trot games joined me an in depth discussion of the question "Are board games art?" We explored this topic in a myriad of ways first defining the terms art and game and then delving into how those ideas could be applied to board games. This one was a fun chat with a lot to unpack.

Credits: 1. chess piece by Ben Davis from the Noun Project 2. frame by Kari Svangstu from the Noun Project

Nat Levan, designer of small games featured in the Button Shy line joined the show to discuss Super Tall, a game currently on Kickstarter. We focused on how the game came about and how Nat refined such a small game experience. The game is currently on Kickstarter if you are a fan of Nat's or the Button Shy line of games. This game won't disappoint you.

Go to Kickstarter to check out the campaign if this game is of interest to you: Super Tall

Seth Jafee, designer and co-founder of TMG, joined me to discuss game development, design, end game mechanics, and TMG's 10 year anniversary celebration coming up. It was an incredibly interesting conversation that should be of interest to many listeners.

TMG is celebrating their 10 year anniversary with a re-release of Homesteaders.

On Who, What, Why? we discuss game design with game designers and try to learn more about the game design process from the people who design games. Each episode we interview a designer of card games, board games, role playing games, or video games. We have both mainstream and independent developers as guests.